Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Dealer to Plead Guilty in $132K Craps Cheating Scheme

A former Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River casino dealer has agreed to plead guilty to participating in a craps cheating scheme that cost the North Carolina tribal casino more than $131,000 in a matter of hours.

Lateek Kahmal Taylor, also known as “Tray,” admitted in court documents filed Friday (September 29) that he knowingly participated in a scheme to defraud Harrah’s Cherokee Valley River Casino & Resort in Murphy, N.C. Taylor’s plea hearing is scheduled for October 9 in federal court in Asheville.

Taylor had worked at the casino since around 2014 and was a dealer on its Quartz hybrid electronic craps game, according to the filing. As the “stickman,” he controlled the game and was responsible for entering the result of each roll into a computer terminal.

Federal prosecutors say Taylor conspired with Donta Dewayne Harris, also known as “Johnny Mathis,” and others to cheat the casino between July 18 and August 31, 2024.

Harris would text Taylor to find out when he was working and then arrive at the casino with other players. Harris allegedly instructed members of the group how and where to wager while Taylor dealt the game.

Losing Rolls Became Winners

The scheme worked in two principal ways, according to court documents.

When Harris was shooting, Taylor would sometimes falsely classify a losing throw as a “bad roll,” meaning it did not count, and return the dice to Harris for another attempt.

On other occasions, Taylor simply entered a winning result into his terminal regardless of the value of the dice roll.

Prosecutors provided a specific example from August 26, 2024. At 2:26 p.m., Harris rolled a 6 and a 3, but Taylor deliberately entered the result as a 6 and a 4, causing Harris to win rather than lose.

Over several hours that day, the scheme resulted in losses of $131,858.36 at the Quartz craps table.

Harris gave Taylor approximately $45,000 in cash during the month the scheme was in operation, according to court documents.

TITO Money Laundering Alleged

A federal grand jury indicted Taylor and Harris in April on charges of theft from an Indian gaming establishment, wire fraud, and money laundering. The indictment alleges they were aided by other people “known and unknown” to the grand jury.

The money laundering count alleges the defendants redeemed Ticket-In, Ticket-Out (TITO) vouchers containing proceeds from the fraud in transactions designed to disguise the source and ownership of the money and avoid state and federal reporting requirements.

Prosecutors are seeking forfeiture of at least $131,858.36.

Harris pleaded not guilty to all three charges on August 12 and requested a jury trial. He remains subject to conditions of release, with his next docket call scheduled for November 2.